The Arkansas Department of Education awarded $483,000 to three education researchers at UCA’s Mashburn Institute who will investigate ways to improve teaching methods for at-risk adolescent students.
The research project will be directed by Mark J. Cooper, Kathleen Atkins, and Patty Kohler-Evans of UCA’s Department of Early Childhood and Special Education.
“This initiative will have a direct impact on the lives of Arkansas adolescents who struggle in school,” Atkins said. “This collaborative effort involving UCA’s Mashburn Institute and the Arkansas Department of Education is a tremendous example of how a partnership between the two institutions can improve the quality of education in Arkansas. It is our hope that the visionary seeds planted by the many stakeholders will promote success among future high school graduates who become successful university graduates and successful members of the workforce.”
The goal of this project is to increase capacity within the state of Arkansas to improve academic outcomes for adolescent learners at-risk for school failure by ensuring access to high quality, research-validated instruction. This will be achieved by providing high quality professional development to general educators, special educators, alternative learning environment educators, and university educators. At the present time, approximately 100 educators who represent seven school sites and several region education centers participate in the statewide initiative. A percentage of those participants are presently preparing to become certified professional developers capable of building and sustaining an infrastructure designed to prepare all Arkansas teachers to use instructional methodologies designed to maximize learning among adolescent learners who struggle.
A primary purpose of UCA’s Mashburn Institute is to prepare all Arkansas teachers to work more effectively with struggling adolescents. This grant award continues to position UCA as a leading institute responsible for preparing teachers to use research-validated instruction designed to mazimize the potential for adolescent learners.
